- I went and watched Cleveland State men's basketball host Robert Morris last night. The Colonials beat CSU 78-70. Kent State will play at Robert Morris on Tuesday, December 22. RMU went 24-11 last season, won the NEC and went to the NCAA tournament. The Golden Flashes should have their hands full playing a deep, athletic squad from RMU. The Colonials were able to go out and play 10 players last night with very little drop off. RMU had seven players score seven or more points. RMU has guards that can push the tempo and attack the basket with aggression (Velton Jones, Mezie Nwigwe, Karon Abraham and Gary Wallace) and big men who are versatile, athletic and can finish at the rim (Russell Johnson, Brad Piehl and Dallas Green). The Colonials also feature a very colorful, loud, communicative head coach in Mike Rice. Rice received a technical foul in the early moments and was nearly ejected by a crew that included men who are no stranger to MAC games, Jerry Sauder and J.D. Collins.

After the game Rice said this about his team. "If you look at our points per game we don't have a guy in double digits, but you just don't know who is going to be the guy with the hot hand in any game. When you have that luxury of depth, it's something good to have. You put your subs in and expect them to be role players and continue to attack."

- Meanwhile, Geno Ford and crew will be eager to return home for a game on Sunday against Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The Flashes went 1-3 in their time away from home. KSU is also inching closer to getting their complete, healthy team back. Elton Alexander has this to say in his blog entry on cleveland.com.

Oh, the pain: Kent State coach
Geno Ford is hoping a light week of practice during finals, along with no games until Sunday, aids the recovery of three important players. Guard
Tyree Evanshas been nursing a painful finger and wrist sprain. He may get a cortisone shot.
Chris Singletaryplayed 31 minutes Saturday against Pitt, his second game back from knee surgery. Ford is now looking for the return of freshman guard
Randal Holt(knee surgery) in the near future.

"He was shooting [Monday], so that's a good sign," he said.

- It will be a
doubleheader on Sunday at the M.A.C. Center with the women's team hosting UNC-Wilmington at 5:00 p.m. with the men to follow. The athletic department has teamed up with the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank to give Golden Flashes fans a special discount for Sunday’s women’s and men’s basketball doubleheader at the M.A.C. Center. Anyone bringing a non-perishable food item can purchase a $5 ticket good for admission to both contests.

- While many of you now know that Buffalo football coach Turner Gill has been named the new head coach at Kansas, now it looks like Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones will follow in Brian Kelly's foot steps and become the next head coach at Cincinnati.

- Congratulations goes out to former Kent State cornerback Rico Murray. Murray is now on the active roster of his hometown, first place Cincinnati Bengals. Cincinnati.com has this note on Murray's debut.

RICO MURRAY ACTIVE: Rico Murray suited up for his hometown team for the first time because of the injuries in the secondary. “Just to wear the uniform,” said Murray, an undrafted rookie out of Kent State and a Moeller High School alum. “I have a lot of pride going to meetings and everything I do, I have the pride of Cincinnati beating on my chest. It’s an honor.” Murray embraces the opportunity to be an active participant of the Bengals, no matter the extent of his role. He briefly entered the game on punt coverage in the first quarter and reappeared on the Bengals’ final series. “I feel like the team called on me to step up and it was my job to answer,” Murray said. “It was a big deal to me to do my job today.”

- Fifth-year senior 133-pounder
Danny Mitcheff has been named Kent State Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. The Golden Flashes wrestling team, ranked 15
thin the country, defeated nationally-ranked Division II Newberry 32-9 and Michigan 28-9 Sunday (Dec. 13). Mitcheff is considered coach Jim Andrassy's favorite wrestler on the team due to his work ethic and toughness.

- The Kent State field hockey team placed four student athletes on the All-MAC Academic team, the most of any school in the league. Representing KSU are senior Allison Kittelberger, senior Laurie Wilkins, junior Katie George and junior Nicole Leach. The Golden Flashes won a share of their second straight MAC regular season title this season with an 8-2 league record.